Newsletter

Georgia's rights

THE FEDERAL judge overseeing the court battle between Georgia, Alabama and Florida over water rights must not get off on the wrong foot when it comes to a state's rights.

U.S. District Court Judge Paul A. Magnuson, a senior judge in Minnesota, has decided the first question he will consider in this closely watched case is whether the Peach State has any right to continue using Lake Lanier as the main water source for Atlanta.

The answer should be a resounding "yes." While the reservoir might have been built with federal dollars, it is fed by the Chattahoochee River, which in turn is fed by rainfall and smaller tributaries that originate in Georgia.

Any finding that denies Georgia the reasonable use of water that flows through its territory treads too heavily on its rights to use its public resources for the common good.

That said, neither states nor the cities within them should over-use natural resources to the detriment of downstream communities.

In the Georgia-Alabama-Florida water war, the answer is not a ban on the use of Lake Lanier as a water source in Georgia. It is instead a more elegant solution balancing the need for water among all three states.

But for any court ruling to be effective, it must be coupled with a realization among Georgia lawmakers and Atlanta officials that unbridled growth in the multi-county, 4 million-person megalopolis has resulted in an unwieldy mass atop a spindly natural resource infrastructure.

The old railroad town of Atlanta has reached the limit of its growth potential based upon finite water resources (as opposed to river towns such as Savannah, Augusta, Macon and Columbus).

While Atlanta has been hurt by the statewide drought, part of smart planning is to contain population growth to a level that may be supported by natural resources, even during dry spells.